The use of DDT and Alternative Methods to Fight Malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Wheeler, Sarah Acelia

Abstract

Malaria is a disease that seems foreign to many, a distant memory. The World Health Organization reported 216 million cases of malaria across the world in 2016, 445,000 of which resulted in fatalities. While malaria was eliminated in the US in 1951, it’s present across the globe, with the epicenter of the reported cases in Sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is a vector-borne disease, meaning an organism transfers the disease to a host. A vector for malaria is Anopheles gambiae, which infects the host with the parasite Plasmodium. Elimination has been successful through the use of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane (DDT) by spraying the interior of homes. The organic insecticide has been banned globally, but there are still ways to apply for its use. This research focuses on what is used today to fight malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa and methods currently being developed in laboratories. Specifically, a synthesis of secondary materials was conducted looking at the effects of DDT on the environment and human health, mechanisms of A. gambiae mutations that lead to insecticide resistance, alternative methods of fighting malaria, and research into new methods of control.

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